“As they search for a new home they are often hit by vehicles, attacked by other animals or tangled in fences.”

X-ray of koala with leg fracture from vehicle strike, southeast Queensland, April 2017. The koala was from the Moreton Bay region and had orthopedic repairs on their broken limbs and was luckily able to be released.Source:Supplied

In 2010, it was estimated that the state’s koala population stood at just 15,000.

To put the tree-clearing crisis in perspective, between 2009 and 2014 more than 10,000 koalas were admitted to four wildlife hospitals across southeast Queensland.

Koala mother and joey seeking refuge on a bulldozed log pile, near Kin Kin in Queensland.Source:Supplied

An orphan koala joey recovers at a refuge in southeast Queensland.Source:Supplied

Nationally, the Australian Koala Foundation believes the koala population — which is concentrated across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, is less than 80,000.

In addition to koalas, tree-clearing victims include mammals like the feathertail glider, a range of native birds and countless reptiles and frogs.

Orphan koala joeys playing on the couch with their carer, Clare Cover. Clare manages Return to the Wild, a non-profit association providing rescue, trauma care, hand rearing and rehabilitation of koalas, wombats and other Australian wildlife.Source:Supplied

Clare Gover, a wildlife carer from southeast Queensland, said the koala is being pushed “further and further to the brink”.

“I think people would be absolutely shocked if they knew how many koalas and other wildlife were being killed every year,” Ms Gover said.

“The koala is a protected species, it’s listed as vulnerable. There’s no point protecting the species if we don’t protect its habitat.

“Your grandkids may never see them in the wild and that’s heartbreaking.”

WWF-Australia and RSPCA have called for four major changes to alleviate the crisis caused by tree-clearing.

They include stronger restrictions on tree-clearing, the mandatory survey and relocation of native wildlife, more strategic rescued animal relocation policies and increased funding for research and rescue.

“The Government takes the level of tree clearing and its impact on native wildlife in Queensland very seriously,” a spokesman said.

Clearing near Roma, Queensland. The machine shown here is deadly for wildlife because it both pushes trees over and mulches them, not allowing animals any time to escape.Source:Supplied

“That’s why earlier this year the independent Species Technical Committee was asked to conduct a scientific review of the impacts of land clearing on threatened species in Queensland. The committee’s findings can be viewed on the EHP website.”

The spokesman added the Queensland Government allocated an extra $12.1 million over four years and ongoing funding of $2.6 million a year for koala protection in the 2016 State Budget.

“We’ve also invested $6 million in wildlife hospitals that take care of our sick or injured koalas,” the spokesman said.

“EHP has conducted koala population surveys in the south-east Queensland local government areas of Moreton Bay, Noosa, Ipswich, Gold Coast, Redland, Logan, Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.”

The Queensland Government is also working with an independent Koala Expert Panel chaired by

University of Queensland Associate Professor Jonathan Rhodes to identify a range of actions designed to halt the decline in koala numbers in South-East Queensland.

Wildlife carers give their time and their homes to our sick, injured or orphaned wildlife1:18

Wildlife carers give their time and their homes to our sick, injured or orphaned wildlife